Storytelling is having a moment. For years, research has shown that people (i.e. potential donors) respond more, and more generously, to the story of ONE person who is being helped by a nonprofit's work, rather than a barrage of statistics - even if those statistics are really impressive.

Through Consumer Union's stori.es, your organization can gather stories through the use of questionnaires, curate the answers, and develop meaningful stories to share with your stakeholders, including potential donors.

All nonprofits know that they have to do this - gather and share stories - but they don't know how, don't have the staff to devote to the task, can't get organized, etc. Hopefully, this new resource will make it easier to tell the world about the great work you do!

My own resources on creative grant writing, which can help you tell your organization's stories in more compelling and impactful ways, can be found HERE. Check out Grant Writing for Creative Souls.

Friday, November 07, 2014

A new report from the Foundation Center, among other things,
foundation giving in the US has reached a record high of $54.7 billion.
The report estimates that foundation giving will continue to grow at a
few points above inflation in 2014, with independent and family
foundations showing an even higher rate of growth. According to the
report, in 2012 the US was home to more than 86,000 foundations.

The
link above will take you to a one-page infographic/summary. From there
you can download the 8-page report, which is also very graphic-heavy and
easy to digest.

I
put less stock in the numbers related to how/where foundations are
giving (e.g. to education, health... or to economically disadvantaged,
women and girls...), mainly because the sample size was relatively small
- 1,000 larger foundations. However, I do think that the scope of the
foundation world, the total amount of foundation assets, the rates of
growth, and other statistics are interesting, revealing, and even
surprising.

In
my own work with foundations, I haven't necessarily seen that
foundations are giving more, or are giving more easily. Securing
foundation gifts still requires a skillful approach to cultivation and
solicitation, ideally a partnership between foundation and grantee.
While foundations may be giving more, my sense is that they are giving
in a more focused, specific way, and there are more organizations out
there doing the asking, which makes for a highly competitive field.

PITCH: Fundraising and Philanthropy Consulting

Philanthropy is a credo, a calling, and a source of creativity and inspiration. PITCH provides fundraising consulting services to individuals and organizations in the non-profit community -- grantwriting, training, and strategic planning. PITCH also provides philanthropy consulting to donors of every wish and wallet -- whether they are donating $50 or $50,000.